Colonial Williamsburg is known for putting the magic into the Christmas season for families, children and couples. From the splendor of Grand Illumination to the elegant beauty of distinctive natural decorations, the unusual programming, delicious food, and festive music make Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area unforgettable.

Holiday fun for children

In Colonial Williamsburg, children will discover something magical about stepping back in time to discover what a colonial Christmas was like. To help them do that, on four weekends in December, a special program is offered for young guests and their families, which explores seasonal traditions of yesteryear, focusing on interpretations and activities for families. Programs include dressing up for the holidays; 18th-century music, dance, storytelling and a puppet show; celebrating several religious traditions; participating in food preparation; playing games like Loo (a popular card game) and introduction to British holiday traditions.

What was life like before video games? A visit to the Museums of Colonial Williamsburg is a great way to find out. The holiday exhibit explores how children recreate the adult world from their own perspective through play and toys. Dollhouses, toy trains and other playthings bring back fond memories of childhood.

Williamsburg welcomes the Christmas season with candles, fireworks and music during the Grand Illumination Dec. 2. A variety of entertainment is offered on multiple outdoor stages throughout the Historic Area, including costumed performers and a Fife and Drum corps playing music popular two centuries ago. As twilight gives way to full dark, candles are lit in public buildings, shops and homes and fireworks are launched at the Governor’s Palace, Magazine and Capitol just as they were in colonial times to celebrate major events. And, if you are fortunate enough to be in Williamsburg on Christmas Eve, you will witness an 18th-century tradition, the firing of the Christmas guns on Duke of Gloucester Street, the main thoroughfare.

Of course, not all colonial kids were the children of plantation owners or townspeople and shopkeepers. Some were slaves. There is a special program at Great Hopes Plantation that depicts the holiday season for enslaved African Americans. Visitors can participate in the type of field work performed by slaves, followed by a circle dance that was an integral part of slaves’ observance of the holidays. Interpreters at the Great Hopes site interpret slave culture, agricultural and carpentry work performed on an 18th-century plantation.

Seasonal shopping

At this time of the year, all the shops and homes in the district display beautiful holiday decorations. You can learn the secrets of making those decorations during several how-to programs. Colonial Williamsburg’s landscape staff demonstrates tips and tricks on how to make traditional holiday decorations using fresh greens and fruit. “The Christmas Decorations Walking Tour” takes a look at their work throughout December.

If you need to give Santa Claus a hand this year in choosing gifts for friends and family, the Colonial Williamsburg Products Program is a great way to go. The program features products of all kinds inspired by the local gardens, architecture and antiques collections. For a free catalog, call 1-800-446-9240 or visit www.Williamsburg Marketplace.com.

Immersed in history

To experience Colonial Williamsburg from the mundane to the grand, stroll along Duke of Gloucester Street where you may visit several historic trade shops and take the pulse of mercantile life, humming now as it did more than 200 years ago. Fine shops serve not only the nearly one million visitors here each year but also the local residents.

The Capitol is just one of the attractions in the 301-acre Historic Area that the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation began reconstructing in 1926. In the succeeding years, restoration has continued. Today, the Capitol, Governor’s Palace and other major edifices stand on their original foundations or have been rebuilt and refurbished inside and out to original specifications.

Probably the largest program of 18th-century trades in the world can be found in the busy shops scattered throughout the colonial capital. Here you can find a blacksmith, shoemaker, gunsmith, printer, cabinetmaker and wigmaker plying their trades, just as they did in colonial times. They use colonial period tools to fashion articles of beauty, utility and character. At the same time, you’ll learn much of the daily activities of the “middling sort” —  men and women who conducted respectable small businesses.

Accommodations

Although you have a choice of any number of comfortable and well-appointed motels and suite hotels, for a truly magical experience, consider a stay in one of the colonial houses in the Historic Area where citizens of the Revolution once lodged. The Colonial Houses offer 75 guest accommodations in colonial style in 26 houses, some as small as one room and others as large as 16 rooms. Thomas Jefferson was one of Market Square Tavern’s first lodgers, and Patrick Henry opened an account there the day after he was inaugurated as the first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Resort Collection of Colonial Williamsburg offers five choices: Colonial Houses-Historic Lodgings, Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg Lodge, Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel & Suites and the Governor’s Inn.

For additional information and reservations or to request a free copy of Colonial Williamsburg’s 2007 Holiday Planner, highlighting unique holiday programs, concerts and special dining events, call 1-800-HISTORY or visit www.ColonialWilliamsburg.com. 

GETTING AROUND

Williamsburg is easy to tour. Ample parking is available at the Visitor Center, and shuttle buses depart every few minutes for the Historic Area. Each major attraction within the district has its own bus stop.

Visitors with wheelchairs will find the streets, most gardens, and outdoors activities in the Historic Area easily accessible. While portable ramps and wheelchair lifts are available at selected exhibitions, many of the buildings require at least a few steps. The Visitor Center, hotels, restaurants, and shops are largely accessible. Special parking arrangements are available for easier access to the Historic Area.

A limited number of folding wheelchairs are available at the Visitor Center. These are rented on a first-come, first-served basis. The rental fee is $7 per day and a credit card imprint is required as a deposit. No motorized chairs are available.